Democratic lawmakers have sharply criticized Pam Bondi, accusing her of “perverting justice” in relation to decisions made during her tenure when the Jeffrey Epstein case was unfolding.
Calls are now growing for Bondi to testify under oath, as lawmakers demand clarity on past actions, prosecutorial decisions, and whether opportunities for accountability were missed.
Supporters argue the criticism is politically motivated, while critics say serious questions remain unanswered about how the Epstein case was handled and why stronger action wasn’t taken earlier.
This latest development comes amid renewed focus on survivor testimony, institutional failures, and the broader network tied to Epstein.
#PamBondi #Epstein #JeffreyEpstein #BreakingNews #EpsteinCase #CoverUp #Politics #USPolitics #Democrats #Accountability #Justice #Controversy #TrendingNow #WorldNews #Investigation #LegalNews #PoliticalNews #Debate #NewsUpdate #Viral
~HT.178~PR.152~GR.538~ED.102~
Calls are now growing for Bondi to testify under oath, as lawmakers demand clarity on past actions, prosecutorial decisions, and whether opportunities for accountability were missed.
Supporters argue the criticism is politically motivated, while critics say serious questions remain unanswered about how the Epstein case was handled and why stronger action wasn’t taken earlier.
This latest development comes amid renewed focus on survivor testimony, institutional failures, and the broader network tied to Epstein.
#PamBondi #Epstein #JeffreyEpstein #BreakingNews #EpsteinCase #CoverUp #Politics #USPolitics #Democrats #Accountability #Justice #Controversy #TrendingNow #WorldNews #Investigation #LegalNews #PoliticalNews #Debate #NewsUpdate #Viral
~HT.178~PR.152~GR.538~ED.102~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, well thank you. My name is Robert Garcia. I'm the ranking member of the
00:05Oversight Committee. Of course, I'm here with members of the Oversight Committee
00:08on the Democrats that are clearly focused today on the survivors and
00:14accountability, truth, and justice. We're going to hear from some of our committee
00:18members here in just a second. I want to just give some thoughts and then answer
00:22any questions. Now we're here in Palm Beach County because so much of this
00:28investigation brings us back to this location. We know that the crimes of
00:34Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the horrible things that happened to so
00:38many women and girls totaling 1,200 could have been stopped and halted had
00:46authorities here been listened to, had prosecutors who made recommendations to
00:53the US Attorney had been listened to, had survivors been listened to, but time and
01:00time again, whether it was at the law enforcement level or whether it was at
01:04the US Attorney's Office by Alexa Casa and others, that justice was denied and
01:10survivors did not receive justice. We know that that led to the additional abuse and
01:15trafficking of women and girls, including of Rosa, who you heard from today. And you
01:21heard her a horrific story and had folks listened, that would not have happened to
01:29her and to so many others. We also want to be clear that especially after today, we
01:37want to hear and are demanding to hear from the line prosecutors and law
01:43enforcement officials that made some recommendations to prosecute additional
01:50names, to go after co-conspirators, and yet were denied those charges and that
01:57evidence was pushed back because of decisions made by the US Attorney at the
02:01time, Alex Acosta. Now we've talked to Mr. Acosta in the past and we have
02:05additional questions. And it's important for anyone that was involved in the case
02:10here in Palm Beach to know that while we have reached out to some folks to speak
02:16to us voluntarily, you will be compelled to answer questions when Democrats are in
02:26the majority. If you were involved in this case and tried to do the right thing,
02:35and made recommendations to the US Attorney to bring prosecutions, we
02:43encourage you to testify and to bring your information to the committee. But if
02:50you're unwilling to do so, we are going to compel that testimony because those
02:56survivors deserve to understand who and why decisions were made to not move forward
03:02with prosecutions that then led to the abuse of so many more women and girls.
03:10I'll also say that I want to reiterate to the Attorney General that we expect to see
03:16her in front of our committee in just a couple of weeks, and that we expect
03:22Republicans and James Comer, because it's his decision alone, to ensure that that
03:29testimony is recorded, under oath, and released to the American public. The
03:34survivors deserve nothing less, and I want to thank them for their courage today to
03:37provide testimony under oath. With that, I'm going to turn this over to
03:41Representative Frankel, who of course hosted us here today.
03:43Thank you. Thank you to Mr. Garcia and my colleagues. I've been trying to get this
03:49hearing here for many years, and I thank you so much for finally bringing folks here. Because, folks, so much
03:56of the truth lies here.
03:58We're hidden in Palm Beach County, and we still have yet, under oath, heard from some of the key players.
04:05Barry Krischer, who was State Attorney at the time, the two prosecutors he sent in to a grand jury room
04:11to debase our survivors.
04:15We need to hear from them, and I can give you another list of associates, law enforcement, state attorney employees,
04:25who have some of the answers. To the big question is, why did Epstein get such a slap on the
04:32wrist?
04:34Secondly, to Courtney Wilde, a bill has been filed, actually numerous times, to deal with her concern that the survivors
04:43were not given notice of the plea, and had any opportunity to weigh into that.
04:49And I'm just going to end by saying this, because what makes this so tragic and sad is how many
04:56lives, how many lives, how could have been spared the agony of abuse had the prosecutors in Palm Beach County
05:06acted properly, or had they not been overpowered, I should say,
05:10overpowered by Jeffrey Epstein and his team of lawyers, politicians, business people, whoever, who obviously overpowered our justice system.
05:25And with that, again, thank you. Where are you? Thank you so much for bringing us here, and all of
05:29you, for your attention. I yield back.
05:39So, you know, we're here at ground zero for where Epstein's crimes occurred. Crimes that were moral crimes, civil crimes,
05:53criminal crimes, crimes that I would consider really against humanity,
06:00given the systemic harm caused by really what was a global enterprise of trafficking girls.
06:11Impossible for me to not think about my own 17-year-old daughter. Again, you see grown women before you,
06:20who are courageous in their refusal to be silent.
06:24But they were mere girls. 14, 15, 16, 17. Talented artists, dancers, aspiring teachers, lawyers, models.
06:40Their bodies were violated. Their dreams devastated. Their lives irreparably harmed.
06:51When you are violated in such a way as a child, it changes on a very foundational and deep level
06:59who you are. Forever.
07:03Your ability to love, to receive love. But it's not only an emotional toll. And certainly the cost of trauma
07:15is a high one.
07:18But there are also economic expenses and inability to pursue a job, to keep a job. 20 years of, 30
07:30years, three decades of legal fees that no one was counting on.
07:34And not only was their innocence corrupted and their bodies violated and their lives changed, their very rights were violated.
07:45The Crime Victims' Rights Act grants individuals who are victims of federal crimes specific enforceable rights, including protection from the
07:57accused, reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of public proceedings, and the right to be heard.
08:06It ensures victims are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect.
08:12Well, that did not happen. Their rights were violated.
08:18And I'm working closely with survivors for a legislative fix of restorative justice.
08:24That's what brings us here today, to learn from the survivors, to identify failures, to hold predators and abusers accountable.
08:35And although I commend the survivors for their courage, I look forward to a day where survivors do not have
08:44to relive their trauma in order to compel action from their government.
08:50And finally, although this is a fight specifically for justice, accountability, and healing for our survivors, who deserve so much
08:59more than sympathy, which is why seeking to advance a legislative restorative justice fix to acknowledge the economic abuse and
09:07financial hardship that many of them still carry today.
09:11But this is a fight for all survivors that are victims of sexual assault and human trafficking.
09:17And so for that, to ensure that there is no erasure, I want to acknowledge the incredible work of Tarana
09:23Burke, of the Me Too movement, Amber Tamblyn, and many more, and in my own district of the Massachusetts 7th,
09:32My Life, My Choice, and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.
09:36This is a fight for all survivors.
09:44Good afternoon. I'm Melanie Stansbury, and I am very deeply proud to represent New Mexico's first congressional district and to
09:53be part of a state delegation in New Mexico that is seeking to turn the Epstein files into Epstein trials.
10:00As we stand here today, New Mexico is the first and only state to pass a state law to investigate
10:08this case.
10:09And what I think is extraordinary about today, and I want to acknowledge Congresswoman Frankel, is that this is the
10:18first congressional hearing on this case to ever be held in West Palm Beach.
10:25Think about that.
10:28The first criminal allegation against Jeffrey Epstein happened more than 25 years ago in this community.
10:38Police look the other way.
10:40Your state attorney general look the other way.
10:44Our national and federal attorney generals and investigatory bodies look the other way.
10:49The FBI had gobs of evidence that there were criminal enterprises going on here in this community that included the
10:58exploitation of children, the trafficking of children across state lines, international trafficking of children and women, and financial crimes.
11:10That's right.
11:11And over the last two and a half decades, not a single congressional hearing has been held on this case
11:18here in this community where it all started.
11:22And so I want to say thank you to Congresswoman Frankel and to our soon-to-be chair of the
11:30Oversight Committee because we would not be here if it were not for them and for the survivors who were
11:36brave enough to show up today and to tell their stories on camera for the world to hear.
11:41Now, I just want to say this as I close out my comments.
11:47There are lots of discussions about the failure of the system to hold Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and the potentially
11:55dozens of men who exploited young girls and trafficked and participated in the sexual exploitation of survivors.
12:05But this was not an isolated incident of failures of a system.
12:11This is a system that was designed to exploit children.
12:16It was a system that protected the wealthy and powerful, and it was a system that intentionally chose not to
12:25prosecute Jeffrey Epstein under federal law, which enabled him to commit potentially hundreds of other cases of rape, abuse, grooming,
12:33and transnational sexual abuse.
12:36That is not just system failure.
12:39That is a system that was designed to enable rich and powerful people to get away with anything that they
12:46wanted.
12:47And so we're here today to make sure that the voices of survivors, that the stories of survivors are heard
12:56not just in this community, but across the world, and to make sure that we take on that system directly.
13:04To say we are not going to stand for this one more moment and to end the injustices that have
13:11allowed this to happen in this community and communities all across the country.
13:17And so we demand accountability.
13:20We demand action.
13:22We demand that Pam Bondi show up for her deposition.
13:26We demand that Donald Trump release the Epstein files.
13:30We demand that Todd Blanch actually prosecute these crimes.
13:34And we demand accountability for every single perpetrator that is still out there.
13:39We are coming for you.
13:41All right.
13:42Okay.
13:47I'm Emily Randall.
13:49I represent Washington State's 6th District, and I have been moved over and over and over by the stories of
13:58such brave women.
13:59Brave women who are forced by a system of power to relive their trauma over and over and over in
14:08pursuit of justice.
14:08And what I hear from my neighbors, and I know that my colleagues here from the American people across the
14:14country, is that this case isn't only about survivors of Epstein's trafficking and sexual crimes, but it is about survivors
14:23everywhere.
14:25Who finally feel a little bit of hope that their stories will be listened to, and that they will be
14:32able to imagine a future in which there is justice.
14:37But we're not there yet, because we still are experiencing a Department of Justice that is engaging in a massive
14:48cover-up.
14:482.5 million documents still unreleased in this Epstein investigation.
14:57And yet, the release over and over and over again, thousands of times, of the names and personally identifying information
15:07of survivors.
15:09There's nothing else to call that but witness intimidation, because it cannot be accidental the number of times that co
15:20-conspirators and powerful men have their names redacted in the files and survivors' names are unredacted.
15:28No matter how many times they have asked for privacy and protection, no matter how many women testified under the
15:36understanding that they would be identified as Jane Doe, we are seeing information about survivors who have already been traumatized
15:46over and over and over again be released as part of this cover-up and part of this intimidation strategy.
15:53We are going to continue to fight so that those who are actually culpable, the dozens, hundreds of people who
16:03are actually culpable have their day in the sunlight, that we record their testimony, that we investigate this to the
16:13full extent, and we are committed every day to working alongside the survivors to ensure that they are protected to
16:21the best of our abilities.
16:22Yes.
16:26Hi, everyone.
16:26Yasmin Ansari, Congresswoman from Arizona's 3rd District.
16:29I was a child just a few years younger than many of the women who testified today when Jeffrey Epstein
16:36was carrying out his heinous crimes right here in West Palm Beach.
16:41These women were girls at the time.
16:43Over 1,000 girls.
16:45Girls who should have been protected, but girls who were failed by adults, by institutions, and by their government.
16:53And what happened here in West Palm Beach and across the country and across the world was not simply just
17:00about the evil of one man.
17:02It was a systemic failure that was shaped by inequality, by influence, and by impunity.
17:09All of this has been exacerbated by the most corrupt administration in American history, carrying out the most egregious cover
17:20-up in American history.
17:21And this systemic failure requires systemic solutions.
17:27In the minority, Oversight Democrats, led by Ranking Member Garcia, have forced everything that has gotten us to this point
17:37today.
17:37We would not be here if it were not for Democrats on the Oversight Committee pushing every subpoena, pushing for
17:45these depositions, pushing for these transcribed interviews, pushing for Pam Bondi to come before the Oversight Committee.
17:51This has been an egregious cover-up by the Trump administration, but also a complete abdication of responsibility by Republicans
17:59on the Oversight Committee, barring a few, and by Republican Chairman James Comer.
18:05And we will continue, whether now or when we are in the majority, to make sure that every single person
18:13who enabled, who perpetrated, or who covered up these heinous crimes will be held accountable.
18:20And we know, from what we heard from the women today, and we've known this, it's in the files, that
18:26there are rich and powerful men out there right now, continuing to live their lives without any consequences.
18:35And we assure you, that day will end.
18:41Good afternoon, I'm James Walkenshaw from Virginia's 11th District.
18:44We're here today in Palm Beach County, Ground Zero, the center, the place where Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's massive
18:56child sex trafficking ring started.
18:59We're just miles from Mar-a-Lago, the place where the close friendship between Epstein and Donald Trump grew, where
19:08Virginia Giuffre was trafficked and later raped by Jeffrey Epstein.
19:13And we heard today powerful stories from survivors, including Rosa from Uzbekistan, who was recruited and held hostage by the
19:23visa that Epstein controlled.
19:26Powerful stories.
19:28And I hope the world was watching.
19:31I specifically hope that Alex Acosta was watching.
19:35Because we learned today from Rosa that she was raped time after time after time by Jeffrey Epstein while he
19:47was serving the sweetheart deal sentence that Alex Acosta gave him.
19:53While he was on unsupervised, very unsupervised release, he was continuing to commit the very crimes that women like Maria
20:03Farmer and others brought to the attention of the FBI decades ago.
20:08I hope another person was watching today.
20:11I hope Pam Bondi was watching.
20:13And I hope she saw the courage of the survivors here today who told their stories in most cases again
20:23in front of all the cameras with all of the bright lights for the world to see.
20:30And I hope Pam Bondi will feel some shame for the fact that she has tried time after time after
20:36time to avoid public accountability.
20:41She wants to answer questions behind closed doors, in private, where the world can't see it, with no video.
20:49Well, Pam Bondi, that is not good enough.
20:51That is not good enough.
20:53You need to show one ounce of the courage that the women here today showed.
20:59They deserve your public testimony on video.
21:03The American people deserve it too.
21:05I'll go back to the ranking member.
21:08And we're going to open up for a couple of questions.
21:09Before I do, I want to say a couple of important things to close.
21:12Number one, I hope today reminds the public that this investigation is not a hoax and it's not over.
21:20And that unlike Todd Blanche, the acting AG, who just a week ago said that the DOJ was moving on
21:28from the Epson investigation, we understand that it is alive and well and moving forward and we have a lot
21:35of work to do ahead of us.
21:37And the second thing is, for this community, it's important for the folks of Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, West
21:44Palm Beach to understand and to know that there's a lot of folks that worked for law enforcement, that were
21:51lawyers involved in this case, that were investigators or that have heard stories or know information or evidence that we
21:59want to access.
22:00So I encourage anyone from the Palm Beach community that we have information about Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, the crimes
22:08or the cover ups that happened to please contact the oversight committee.
22:13We have a protected system, a whistleblower system that we encourage you to please access if you have information that
22:20could help us in our investigation.
22:21And with that, I'll open it up for any questions.
22:24Your last interview now is scheduled for July 15th. Do you expect that there will be more before the election?
22:32How many and who, by name, if you can, do each of you most want to hear from as your
22:38investigation continues?
22:40Look, we're working right now through a list of additional subpoenas that we want to get through. Some we're communicating
22:46directly with the majority on as we're waiting to see if they move on those or not.
22:50But I think it's safe to say that we're interested in speaking to anyone that was involved, particularly prosecutors that
22:56were involved in making recommendations about the sweetheart deal, what happened here in Palm Beach and more broadly in some
23:03of the other cases that were brought forward to the government.
23:06That's one piece of folks we want to speak to. We also have additional questions for other folks that we
23:11believe were involved in assisting Jeffrey Epson and Ghislaine Maxwell.
23:14Some of those you and I discussed earlier, but we're not at this moment ready to release additional names.
23:45So let me just, I mean, let me add, um, one is, um,
23:48obviously as survivors, we're never going to force a survivor to be compelled to speak in front of the committee,
23:54but any survivor that wants to speak and have the opportunity. Absolutely.
23:57And we definitely have additional questions for folks that we've talked to. I'll take Alex Acosta as a very good
24:02example. We'll definitely have additional questions. As far as members from our party, we have been a nonpartisan in our
24:08approach.
24:08We don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat. We'll talk to you. And I think we said earlier that
24:12we have additional questions. I want to understand why Merrick Garland in the former Justice Department under the Biden administration
24:17did little to nothing to bring justice for the survivors or have additional prosecutions.
24:21And so Merrick Garland for me is at the top of that list of folks that we need to speak
24:26to and ask questions of. And, and there are, there are a variety of other folks. And if anyone else
24:31wants to add to that, there's a variety of other folks that we want to speak with. Yes.
24:35Yes, Representative Garcia. They call me WPTV. It was hailed as a victory when the bill passed the house where
24:43the files were going to be released. And yet you heard today that while a few applications have been taken
24:50with individuals and people abroad have been investigated, that the names of the survivors came out.
25:12I mean, I put the blame squarely on former Attorney General Pam Bondi for that. She has had a direct
25:20hand in this coverup from the beginning. Not only did they move slowly, but they were sloppy.
25:25We heard from survivors, as you mentioned, that, you know, their lives have been destroyed while names of men and
25:33co-conspirators who committed the crimes were not, were redacted. So I think that there needs to be a, that's
25:40why we need to hear from Pam Bondi at the end of this month under oath on camera in front
25:45of the American people, because she is to blame for this. And there should be, I believe, accountability for her
25:52and for what she did here. She has ruined lives.
25:54I mean, we heard such devastating stories today about people's children hearing these, you know, these stories for the first
26:01time, you know, women whose details of their sexual assault and abuse was revealed because of the botching of this
26:07files.
26:07The law was very clear that any personally identifiable information as it pertains to survivors should have been redacted. This
26:15is not an accident. The Department of Justice chose to do this because they want to silence people. They want
26:21this to go away.
26:22Donald Trump has made that abundantly clear. He's directed his staff to make sure that happens. And I believe that
26:29the reason these mistakes were made was, again, not an accident and at the direction of, of Pam Bondi.
26:37And moreover, I would just say that what this proves, the fact that, you know, none of our Republican colleagues
26:43are here today. For Democrats, this is not a, a midterm campaign strategy.
26:49This is not about political gamesmanship or upsmanship, but clearly for them fighting for the, uh, just naming the Epstein
26:59files in their campaigning. The Epstein files, by the way, are real people.
27:03These are real people. These are real people's lives, right? Um, that was just purely political for them.
27:08You know, as get, as proven by their obstruction and by their, uh, defiance and their unwillingness to comply with,
27:17uh, legally binding subpoenas.
27:20And then finally, I would just say something that really just stayed with me today.
27:25There have been so many instances of insult to injury. Not only were vile acts committed by this vermin in
27:34their predator, pedophile Ponzi scheme, that is a lifetime sentence for these survivors.
27:42This trauma is showing up and manifesting in, in, in their way, in their, in their lives in so many
27:48ways.
27:48But it is insult to injury that there was an institutional betrayal by law enforcement, by the Department of Justice,
27:55and now today by House Republicans.
27:59And their rights were not honored in the Crime Victims Rights Act.
28:03And the fact, as my, as Congresswoman Randall speaks to, that their names have been unredacted.
28:10That was some of the most devastating testimony here today, this insult to injury.
28:16And in the words of Virginia Giuffre, we need to know who the monsters are.
28:23We need to follow every single road.
28:25We don't care if they're Democrat, Republican, independent, what state they live in, what their job is, if they're a
28:32politician, if they're a president, or if even they are a prince.
28:36We will follow all roads because this is not political for us.
28:40This is deeply personal.
28:42This is about these survivors and their families.
28:45And every monster, in the words of Virginia Giuffre, needs to be named and shamed.
28:49Because they could still be out there committing these evil, vile acts.
28:55Last question.
28:56Yeah, I do want to go to former state attorneys.
28:59I'm pretty sure if he's been invited to testify.
29:02And what police testimony will be able to do to the public?
29:05What I can say is that we have invited some former Florida officials to testify voluntarily.
29:15That has yet to happen.
29:16And so we are prepared to compel testimony in the future.
29:21That's something that we're looking at right now.
29:22Thank you very much.
Comments